FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Multiple historic outbuildings in Poudre Canyon were damaged or destroyed in the Arrowhead Fire.
The 15-acre Arrowhead Fire started on March 19 in the Poudre Canyon and damaged outbuildings associated with the Forest Service’s historic Arrowhead Lodge, according to the U.S. Forest Service. It was fully contained around 2 p.m. on March 21.
The lodge was built as a summer mountain resort, opening to the public in 1935. The USFS acquired the site in a land exchange in 1984.
The USFS said Arrowhead Lodge is an important historic site in the Poudre Canyon. With support from the Colorado State Historical Fund, Colorado Preservation Inc., Rocky Mountain National Park Historic Preservation Crew, and the Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, the site was cleared, architectural assessments were completed and windows were repaired, according to the USFS.
The Elkhorn Prescribed Burn in 2020, which was implemented near the lodge, and snow helped keep the recent Arrowhead Fire from spreading farther north to other buildings, officials said. The USFS said this "provides an excellent example of the positive impact prescribed fire can have in minimizing negative effects of wildfires."
The USFS said an outbuilding, used for storage and a chicken coop, on the west site of the site was destroyed in the fire. It was not part of the 1991 nomination for the National Register of Historic Places. One outhouse was damaged and another was destroyed — both were part of that nomination and had historic value.
The damage is being assessed by heritage staff to determine what to do next.
The Arrowhead Lodge will open part-time as a visitor center over the summer.
The cause of the Arrowhead Fire remains under investigation.
